Edmonton Opera

Edmonton Opera is a professional Canadian opera company in Edmonton, Alberta. In the past they regularly performed at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, but in recent years have been branching out and performing at a variety of stages throughout the city of Edmonton. The Edmonton Opera office is home to a box office, production space, and costume workshop, and is located at #102, 11442 1168 Street NW, Edmonton AB. Last year, in their 2023/24 season, they celebrated their 60th anniversary season.

History

Approximately six amateur opera companies pre-date the Edmonton Opera’s founding in 1963. After Mrs. J.B. Carmichael’s death in 1964, singers who had been involved with the Edmonton Operatic Society approached local pianist and voice teacher Jean Letourneau about working with them.^[1] After a number of successful productions, the group changed its name to the Edmonton Professional Opera Association, with David Ker as the first president and Letourneau as the music director. "Professional" was dropped from the company’s name in August 1966, as the then-artistic director, Irving Guttman,^[2] argued that it should be obvious to all if a company is professional.

The first season, 1963/64, featured two productions: Madama Butterfly in October 1963, and Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci in April 1964. In 1966, Letourneau convinced Guttman, then at the Vancouver Opera, to come to Edmonton. The artistic director from 1966 to 1998, Guttman would be a part of all four Western Canadian opera companies — Vancouver (founded 1958), Edmonton (founded 1963), Manitoba (founded 1969) and Calgary (founded 1972).

Until 2008, the opera guild was one of many forms of support for the opera. Founded by Thelma Gregg, the group held many successful fundraisers and ensured everyone backstage was well-fed.

Production History

The number of productions showed each year varies, ranging from two productions to as many as five operas. Although 5 operas have only been presented twice in the companies history in 1992/93 and 1993/94.

Repertoire includes the classic operatic works, as well as a handful of more contemporary pieces, especially in more recent years. The 2024/25 season offers 4 main shows and other satellite events and productions alongside their season. The main productions will be:

1. Die Fledermaus 2. Bluebeard's Castle 3. Aquarius: Songs of the Stars 4. Die Walküre

This history may be incomplete, but is based on of a timetoast page hosted by the company here.

Production History

Season	Production Name	Dates	Notes
1963/64	Madama Butterfly	Oct 1963
	Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci	Apr 1964
1964/65	Rigoletto	Oct 1964
	Carmen	Apr 1965
1965/66	La Traviata	Oct 965
	La Bohéme	May 1966
1966/67	Tosca	Oct 1966
	Faust	Jan 1967
1967/68	Barber of Seville	Nov 1967
	La Traviata	Apr 1968
1968/69	Carmen	Oct 1968
	Lucia di Lammermoor	Jan 1969
	The Consul	Apr 1969
1970	La Bohéme	Jan 1970
	Rigoletto	Apr 1970
1970/71	Il Trovatore	Nov 1970
	Madama Butterfly	Feb 1971
	Les contes d'Hoffmann	Apr 1971
1971/72	Un Ballo in Maschera	Oct 1971
	The Marriage of Figaro	Feb 1972
	Aida	Apr 1972
1972/73	Lucrezia Borgia	Nov 1972
	Tosca	Feb 1973
	Montserrat Cabell in Concert	Mar 1973
	Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci	Apr 1973
1973/74	Faust	Nov 1973
	La Traviata	Jan 1974
	Turandot	Mar 1974
1975/75	Carmen	Oct 1974
	The Merry Widow	Jan 1975
	Manon Lescaut	Mar 1975
1975/76	Die Fledermaus	Sep 1975
	Norma	Nov 1975
	Cosi fan tutte	Feb 1976
	La Bohéme	Apr 1976
1976/77	Barber of Seville	Sep 1976
	Madama Butterfly	Dec 1976
	Salome	Feb 1977
	Daughter of the Regiment	May 1977
1977/78	The Mikado	Sep 1977
	Leotyne Price in Recital	Nov 1977
	Don Giovanni	Dec 1977
	Il Trovatore	Feb 1978
	Atilla	Apr 1978
1978/79	Tosca	Nov 1978
	Macbeth	Feb 1979
	Lucia di Lammermoor	Apr 1979
1979/80	Rigoletto	Sep 1979
	Der Fliegende Hollander	Nov 1979
	The Most Happy Fella	Jan 1980
	Manon	Jan 1980
	Aida	May 1980
1980/1981	South Pacific	Sep 1980
	Otello	Nov 1980
	Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci	Mar 1981
	Nabucco	May 1981
1981/82	Turnadot	Oct 1981
	Carmen	Mar 1982
	The Masked Ball	May 1982
1982/83	La Traviata	Nov 1982
	The Tales of Hoffmann	Feb 1983
	Il Puritani	Mar 1983
1983/84	Lucia di Lammermoor	Oct 1983
	Lohengrin	Nov 1983
	The Gondoliers	Dec 1983
	Norma	Jan 1984
	La Bohéme	Mar 1984
	Faust	Mar 1984
1984/85	Il Trovatore	Sep 1984
	The Marriage of Figaro	Nov 1984
	Die Fledermaus	Jan 1985
1985/86	Madama Butterfly	Sep 1985
	The Barber of Seville	Nov 1985
	Christmas with the Edmonton Opera	Dec 1985
	Coward à la carte - New Years	Dec 1985
	The Magic Flute	Jan 1986
	The Merry Widow	Mar 1986
1986/87	Gilbert & Sullivan Opera and Dance	Sep 1986
	Rigoletto	Oct 1986
	Cosi fan tutte	Nov 1986
	Salome	Jan 1987
	Tosca	May 1987
1987/88	La Traviata	Sep 1987
	Don Giovanni	Nov 1987
	Pirates of Penzance	Jan 1988
	Manon Lescaut	Mar 1988
1988/89	Romeo et Juliette	Nov 1988
	Carmen	Jan 1989
	L'elisir d'amore	Mar 1989
	Aida	May 1989
1989/90	La Bohéme	Sep 1989
	The Dialogues of the	Nov 1989
	Die Fledermaus	Jan 1990
	The Flying Dutchman	Mar 1990
1990/91	Madama Butterfly Benefit Fashion Show	Oct 1990
	A Masked Ball	Nov 1990
	Eugene Onegin	Jan 1991
	The Marriage of Figaro	Mar 1991
	Madama Butterfly	May 1991
	Irving Guttman Tribute	May 1991
1991/92	The Mikado	Nov 1991
	The Barber of Seville	Jan 1992
	Adriadne auf Naxos	Mar 1992
	La Traviata	Apr 1992
1992/93	Don Pasquale	Nov 1992
	The Magic Flute	Jan 1993
	Turn of the Screw	Mar 1993
	Porgy and Bess	Mar 1993
	Tosca	May 1993
1993/94	The Pearl Fishers	Sep 1993
	La Bohéme	Nov 1993
	Jenufa	Jan 1994
	June Anderson Recital	Feb 1994
	Julius Caesar	Mar 1994
	Rigoletto	May 1994
	Kiri Te Kanawa in Recital	May 1994
1994/95	Don Giovanni	Oct 1994
	The Rape of Lucrezia	Jan 1995
	La Cenerentola	Mar 1995
	Carmen	May 1995
1995/96	Cecilia Bartoli in Recital	Sep 1995
	Turandot	Nov 1995
	Lucia di Lammermoor	Jan 1996
	Die Fledermaus	Mar 1996
	A Gala Tribute to Irving Guttman	May 1996
1996/97	Nabucco	Nov 1996
	The Abduction from the Seraglio	Feb 1997
	Madama Butterfly	Mar 1997
	Daughter of the Regiment	Apr 1997
1997/98	Romeo et Juliette	Nov 1997
	The Barber of Seville	Jan 1998
	H.M.S Pinafore	Mar 1998
	Il Trovatore	May 1998
	Denyce Graves in Recital	May 1998
1998/99	The Marriage of Figaro	Nov 1998
	La Bohéme	Jan 1999
	The Elixir of Love	Mar 1999
	The Tales of Hoffmann	Apr 1999
1999/00	Aida	Nov 1999
	The Pirates of Panzance	Jan 2000
	The Rake's Progress	Mar 2000
	Tosca	April 2000
2000/01	Hansel and Gretel	Nov 2000
	Cosi fan tutte	Feb 2001
	Carmen	Mar 2001
2001/02	Rigoletto	Oct 2001
	The Magic Flute	Nov 2001
	Of Mice and Men	Mar 2002
	The Merry Widow	Apr 2002
2002/03	Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci	Oct 2002
	Don Pasquale	Nov 2002
	The Mikado	Feb 2003
	Some Enchanted Evening	Mar 2003
2003/04	Turnadot	Nov 2003
	Madama Butterfly	Mar 2004
	South Pacific	Apr 2004
2004/05	Lakme	Oct 2004
	The Emperor of Atlantis	Nov 2004
	Sallyy Dibblee in Recital	Mar 2005
	Porgy and Bess	May 2005
2005/06	Launch of the Opera coat Project	Oct 2005
	Gala Bohéme	Nov 2005
	Filumena	Nov 2005
	Bluebeard's Castle & Erwartung	Feb 2006
	La Bohéme	Mar 2006
2006/07	Don Giovanni	Nov 2006
	The Barber of Seville	Feb 2007
	Macbeth	Apr 2007
2007/08	Carmen	Oct 2007
	H.M.S. Pinafore	Feb 2008
	Requiem	Apr 2008
	Falstaff	Apr 2008
2008/09	The Flying Dutchman	Oct 2008
	Daughter of the Regiment	Feb 2009
	The Pearl Fishers	Mar 2009
	La Traviata	Apr 2009
2009/10	Rigoletto	Oct 2009
	The Seven Deadly Sins and Songs of a Wayfarer	April 2010
	Otello	Apr 2010
2010/11	La Bohéme	Oct 2010
	Valentine's Gala	Feb 2011
	The Abduction from the Seraglio	Feb 2011
2011/12	Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci	Oct 2011
	The Mikado	Feb 2012
	Fidelio	April 2012
2012/13	Aida	Oct 2012
	The Tales of Hoffmann	Feb 2013
	Eugene Onegin	Apr 2013
2013/14	Salome	Oct 2013
	Die Fledermaus	Feb 2014
	Madama Butterfly	Apr 2014
2014/15	The Barber of Seville	Oct 2014
	The Magic Flute	Jan 2015
	Lucia di Lammermoor	Apr 2015
2015/16	The Merry Widow	Oct 2015
	Carmen	Jan 2016
	Mary Stuart	April 2016
2016/17	Turandot	Oct 2016
	Cinderella	Feb 2017
	Elektra	Mar 2017
2017/18	Lilies (Les Feluettes)	Oct 2017
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23	Tosca	Oct 2022
	Orphée+	Jan 2023
	Stabat Mater	Mar 2023
2023/24	Carmen	Oct 2023
	Don Giovanni	Feb 2024
	Ayre	Apr 2024
	Das Rheingold	May 2024

Education

With the aid of technology, the company is able to share operatic resources across northern Alberta, including educational guides, programs and other resources. Field trips for students in Edmonton are arranged for the second dress rehearsal, when they can visit the Northern Alberta Jubilee, watch the performance, and often, chorus and cast members come out to the lobby to chat during intermissions.

Between 1973 and 1984, Edmonton Opera on Tour brought opera to children in schools across Alberta, from bigger centres such as Grande Prairie to smaller communities such as Holden. Through this program, there were approximately 200 performances per year.

Community

The Edmonton Opera has partnered with many other arts organizations in Edmonton, including the Alberta Craft Council and the Shumka Ukrainian Dancers. The Edmonton Opera is also the largest employer of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

References

1. Alexis Luko. "Edmonton Opera". Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
2. Betty Nygaard King. "Irving Guttman". Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Retrieved August 25, 2019.